supersonin wrote:The only reason anybody cares about the noisy air horn is because it was David who was blowing it

It sounds like many people cared about it while it was happening, and most likely didn't know it was David. His celebrity is why some of us not directly affected are discussing it here, and you're the one who seems bent on dragging this out.

I do remember a quote from David one year saying that the grant more than paid for the temple expenses. It might have been a misquote or I might be misremembering it. There's also the temples he built off the playa - I'd be surprised if he did every single one at a loss. Nor do I think he should take a loss on them. He had a great idea and executed it well. So much so that it became a Burning Man tradition that carried on even in the years he wasn't available to take the lead.

Have you seen the books on the temple project and KNOW that David put his own money in, or are you just speculating like the rest of us?

my understanding of accomplished people is thus: first, they are highly skilled at what they do, but that doesn't make them wise in a general sense. second, accomplishing things usually requires exerting much control and defending one's decisions against naysayers and the like, and so they tend to be more defensive and controlling than sloths like me.

it's no secret that artists aren't always as beautiful as their works. that's true for all of us, actually.

as for the noise, i would have supported confiscating (for a limited time) the sound system's cables, as incorrect of a solution as that might be. it would have nailed two birds with one stone. no music; no air horn.

this guy saw a random opportunity and took it (he didn't set out to steal the keys), and appears to feel kind of bad about it, even as he tries to justify it. i think he deserves some credit for being wishy-washy!

supersonin wrote:The only reason anybody cares about the noisy air horn is because it was David who was blowing it,

if you don't want David to be famous, than stop talking about him. He is closely scrutinized because he is famous, that is not really fair, not very BM of you to only allow yourselves the freedom of "radical self expression" I bet you are glad that people don't write about you every time you act like a jerk. David loves burningman and maybe it is because he can blow his horn.

Oh, and maybe you haven't noticed but he is kick-ass artist!

If you want to see celebrities behaving badly, pick up a People Magazine.

Yep Pimple Magazine is full of celebrities being assholes.

Sorry, David Best gets his fame because he is a kick-ass artist.

That is a good story try_me. I see two bits of radical self expression here. Him blowing the air horn in the early morning and you taking the key to the compressor. However IMHO the story could have best been told without naming the celebrated artist. Simply stating that it was someone responsible for a huge and popular art project would have been sufficient to get the point across. You cannot settle your feelings with him here. Nor can he settle his with you here. That is something that must be done in private communication to each other and each one to himself.

This is interesting, 'cause I had my first David Best experience in 2007. We were on an art car passing by the Temple shortly after it opened. Some people on our car were shouting through megaphones; I forget what. Mr. Best was being filmed by a film crew nearby; he came over and told us, "Out of all the places on the playa, here is where you do NOT use megaphones." The film crew filmed the interaction between him and the bus guys--and interestingly, the film crew did not turn their cameras away when the bus guys asked that he not be filmed (isn't that a BM media requirement--that if someone asks you not to film or take pictures, you don't?). Anyway. It raised an interesting issue that came up again and again for me this year. 1. Yes, the Temple can be considered "sacred space" 2. Yes, Mr. Best built the Temple 3. It's probably considered rude to shout through a megaphone (or play heavy-metal music, or dance, or fuck) around the Temple. On the other hand, 4. does an artist really have the right to control what happens around (not "to") a piece of artwork, especially after it's been "gifted" to BRC? I can see *asking* someone to be respectful of the space, but TELLING someone they MUST be respectful...? Was he being that way just because the film crew was there? It raised no little amount of internal conflict in me--I'm very respectful of the Temple, and felt badly that there was the sense of disrespect...but on the other hand...BM's freedom of expression, yeah?

Reading the story of the air horn adds even more to this. What if I had come up to the car and told the driver, Mr. Best, "Hey, this is morning and people are sleeping. You MUST keep the noise down." Obviously, he didn't think so.

Sorry, Best supporters, but it sounds like a double-standard. He can tell people to be quiet when it's in *his* interest (around the Temple, when he's being interviewed on film, when he's trying to sleep), but other people can't tell *him* to be quiet (when he's blasting an airhorn in the morning). I know his intent was to bother the dance camp, but he *knew* that he was disturbing lots of people that weren't in the dance camp as well. To be so cavalier about being that rude to that many OTHER people...well, I don't see how that can be defended.

I vote in favor of the key removal. If he didn't want people to "touch his tools", then he shouldn't have been using them the the aggressive, antisocial way he did. Civic responsibility, anyone?

What you should have told him when you took his keys ws
"SHUT UP, YOU'RE RUINING MY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE"
and then we'd all be calling this the Best experience on the playa instead of going 'round and 'round sniping at each other.

OMG! I have to say I think this story is sooooo frickin' funny all around!

Try_me, I totally respect how you tried to handle the communication with David, and I LOVE that you took his keys (I'm working backwards here...) because he totally deserved to have done to him basically the same thing he was doing (exacting revenge) BUT, the fact that you would chase down a noise-maker at burning man, really is beyond belief to me. Burning Man is noisy! I expect it. I am fairly quiet and I do like my sleep, but I would NEVER in a million years chase down a noise-maker. Even if they were outside my tent and I didn't have to run to get them.

In this way, you and David were exactly alike. And you know, it's opposites that attract and alike repels.

That anyone would hold David Best to some higher degree of standards is ridiculous. He's a person with pros and cons just like the rest of us.

Live as if everyone loves you and thinks you look great. Dance as if no one is watching.

Maybe I got "trained right" by camping the first year next to a really loud camp- But I learned right then, that ear plugs are handy on the playa...
And how can you complain about noise ? You came to burning man for peace and quiet ???

MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE!
What about outward on the ring?
THINK about where you were camped!

It's a big frickin' playa.
and no- I don't sleep in an RV. I just plan ahead.

I think Mr. Best was doing the right thing- and I think he was responding to his neighbors noise... so the answer of responding to the response and then catching a ride here looking for pity just floors me.

I think you need a response to your response... sure.
Sounds like you got it. But you won't get much "Burning Man is too noisy" pity.

Supersonin - Why can't you just admit that the guy was a jerk for blowing the airhorn? Reading these posts of current & past behaviour, he sounds like he's someone I'd rather not be around. So he does kick-ass art -- that doesn't exempt him from being a jerk, or give him a license to preach on a pedestal. Wake up.

And to the original poster - I really enjoyed your story - you seem like a decent guy. Maybe you didn't bring a HUGE FUNDED ART PROJECT to the playa, but you did what you could, and contributed the way most of us contribute to the community. I'm sure the people's bikes you fixed we very appreciative of your gift. Thanks for taking the initiative to bring bike tools out, after you read there wouldn't be a bike-fix camp this year.

That airhorn was one of the best fucking things ever, IMHO on the playa. Besides being cool it served as another reminder of where I was, what I went through to get there, and it penetrated inside my pop-up and got my attention at times when I really needed it. I'm glad it was used frequently and I hope it comes back next year...but with one caveat. Make the damn thing even louder!

Kinetic V ~~~~~~I bring order to chaos. And I bring chaos to those who deserve it, wherever that may be.

Kinetic V wrote:That airhorn was one of the best fucking things ever, IMHO on the playa. Besides being cool it served as another reminder of where I was, what I went through to get there, and it penetrated inside my pop-up and got my attention at times when I really needed it. I'm glad it was used frequently and I hope it comes back next year...but with one caveat. Make the damn thing even louder!

Kinetic,

You know, there was a guy in a pickup truck that had a compressor/airhorn in the back. He came by our camp every single day this year. And you summed my feelings about it pretty well. I didn't drive four days to have a defualt world day. Give me a Burning Man airhorn over the loud truck exhaust pipes I hear going by my shop anyday.